Excerpt from Wadham College, Oxford, Its Foundation, Architecture and History: With an Account of the Family of Wadham and Their Seats in Somerset and Devon The Colleges of our ancient Universities are an institution peculiar to ourselves. Of all the differences that distinguish a career at Oxford or Cambridge from one at a foreign University none have so great an influence as these independent and endowed foundations which gather students into groups, living together with associations, interests, and an 'esprit de corps' of their own, in addition to those which they all share in common. Till recent legislation was directed to restore the supremacy of the University over the Colleges the latter held the first place in public estimation. To 'go to College is still the popular expression for an University career, though the Colleges have no longer the monopoly of matriculation; and it is still on the Collegiate buildings rather than on those of the University that the architectural splendour of Oxford and Cambridge mainly depends. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.